Former November Niner Marc-Etienne McLaughlin is the champion of the largest buy-in event of the 2016 World Cup of Cards (WCC). McLaughlin shipped Event #22, the $5,000 NL Hold’em 8-Maxfor $76,830 and captured the WCC Champions trophy, topping a field of 44 players.

Day 2 began at 2 p.m. inside Playground Poker Club, the host of the 2016 WCC, with 12 of the 44 players returning. A super deep-stacked field played out for just over ten hours on Saturday before McLaughlin finished off his last opponent.

Place

Name

Prize (CAD)

1

Marc-Etienne McLaughlin

$76,830

2

Pierre-Paul Paulin

$53,350

3

Francois Goulet

$34,150

4

Martin Raus

$27,750

5

Pascal Lefrancois

$21,320

Chanracy Khun was the unfortunate ‘Bubble Boy’, shoving preflop with ace-jack but finding McLaughlin in the big blind with pocket queens. Khun picked up a flush draw on the turn but McLaughlin was able to fade it, eliminating Khun in sixth place.

Pascal Lefrancois was the first to bust in the money. Lefrancois chose a bad time to make a bluff, shoving on the flop against Goulet. Goulet, however, had flopped top-pair, top-kicker and snap-called, sending Lefrancois to the rail in fifth.

Martin Raus shoved preflop with pocket eights but ran smack into Paulin’s pocket kings. Raus found no help on the board and was knocked out in fourth.

A short-stacked Francois Goulet fell in third place when McLaughin open-shoved from the small blind into Goulet’s big bling. After a moment, Goulet made the call, putting himself at risk with ten-eight of diamonds. McLaughlin held eight-five and though Goulet had McLaughlin dominated, McLaughlin rivered a straight, and Goulet was finished off.

Heads-up play lasted for just under two hours. McLaughlin entered heads-up as the chip leader butPierre-Paul Paulin quickly closed the gap. McLaughlin was able to beat Paulin back down and finally seal the deal.

On the final hand, Paulin opened and McLaughlin called in the big blind. The flop came {4-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}, and McLaughlin check-called a bet of 25,000 from Paulin. The {3-Spades} fell on the turn and both players checked to the {a-Diamonds} on the river. McLaughlin checked again and Paulin bet 50,000. McLaughlin check-raised all-in and Paulin went into the tank. After a moment, Paulin tossed out a chip, making the call and McLaughlin tabled {q-Hearts}{3-Hearts}, for trip threes. Paulin nodded, tossing his cards into the muck.